So there I was sanding a panel, when...

[Lee Schierer]

This morning, I was sanding some panels for a cabinet I am making and my Porter Cable belt sander started making strange noises. Intermittently it would make a sort of squealing noise accompanied by a slight vibration. I stopped sanding and oiled the bearings on the front roller. The noise continued. Finally I stopped and removed the belt guard from the side of the saner, it was loaded with sawdust. Cleaning it out didn't solve the noise issue, so I carefully removed the drive belt and large sprocket. Then I opened the cover to the gear box and checked the gears and bearings. The gear box was pretty dry and the bearings looked pretty dry as well. I applied some light machine oil to the shields on the bearing and let it soak in. I also added some grease around the drive gears and put the cover back on. After completing the reassembly I started sanding again and the strange noise was gone. Hopefully this PM will give me many more years of faithful service from my sander.

When was the last time you checked your gear boxes for lubrication?

[Stephen Cherry]

When was the last time you checked your gear boxes for lubrication?

Uh, never.

Tanks for the tip.

[Peter Quinn]

My motto is if it's not smokin it's not broken.

[Jim Matthews]

My motto is if it's not smokin it's not broken.

It's an unfortunate oversight in our modern system of educating children that electromechanics are neglected in favor of esoteric notions.
While it may be an advanced concept, it bears repeating -

Electronic components are made mostly of compressed smoke. If it gets out, it's impossible to put back.
Getting all the little elves to puff a precise amount into each capacitor is a huge undertaking, best managed on an industrial scale.